So we've just released a ton of awesome little bundles for our Ardweenys, and you're thinking "Wow, what would I do with all those?". Well friend, why not build a Strandbeest with an Ardweeny for a brain? For those few who aren't familiar with a Strandbeest (or don't know it by name), they are the […]
Solarbotics at Calgary Comic Expo 2013
Solar botics
April 30, 2013
Whelp, many moons have passed since we posted last time (er, maybe that's a slight exaggeration), and many a thing have happened. We went to Las Vegas to the Magento conference, lasered some ukuleles, but mostly were in a mad rush preparing for the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo 2013. We teamed up with a wonderful costume designer and artist Angela Dale to produce wearable pieces that merge electronics and costume design.
Here's the first example - joint effort of Graeme Janzen, Angela Dale and Solarbotics. Custom Fosshape molded helmet is fitted perfectly to the wearer, and 3 layers of lasercut acrylic are edge-lit with 24 high-power white LEDs:
Our Voltron Helmet is based on the Black Lion toy design from Defender of the Universe, a popular cartoon in the mid eighties. Voltron consisted of 5 robot lions that joined together to form a Giant Robot that protected the galaxy from evil doers. The Black Lion in particular is special because it formed the head and torso of the combined Robot Voltron. Since the head had two different modes: Robot and Lion, it was intriguing to try to emulate the two modes as best as we could.
We used an Ardweeny, Multipack, TTLy FTDI, 2 Star Controllers, and 2 HXT900 servos to animate our replica and make it come alive with a few electronic bits. Special thanks to Angela Dale and Robyn Ayles (props designer and full-time faculty at the Mount Royal theater program) for their assistance!
This Chameleon Cocktail Ensemble was created by Angela and her assistants as a part of MakeFashion project. It uses 20 meter of addressable LED strips (add 5 meters in the headdress) powered by 3.7V LiPoly batteries, and ArduinoPro Mini to control the lighting sequences.
We also hosted the Arduino workshop at the Expo, with a slight costuming application bend and many blinky lights...
..and did lots of people watching.
Check out our Flickr photostream for details on more projects and photos!
MORE POSTS
DragonTail Robot Platform And A Dancing ...
Halloween is upon us, and it looks like everyone is testing out their costumes. For instance, the trees are dressing up (or down?) as Naked Trees, and all the leaves are dressing up as Multicoloured Dead Leaves. It's all very exciting. But we've keeping our heads down and churning out some great stuff to show […]
Gone to da Faire
"What gives, where are all the newsposts this week?" Well, let me tell you. We've been running around like crazy people (which comes disturbingly easy to most of us) getting ready for the Vancouver Maker Faire, which many of our staff (including your humble poster of news) will be attending. So you'll have to hang […]
Bicore Experimenter's PCB/Bundles
Sorry for the delay in announcements, folks! Been quite busy getting these latest devices ready for sale. The latest addition to the Solarbotics family of products is the Bicore Experimenter's PCB (aka:) BEP. This is a collection of useful, proven circuits that have been used by Solarbotics, and many other users of Mark Tilden's Bicore […]
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!
Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.
Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.